Are all metals GOOD conductors of ELECTRICITY?
Metals are in general good conductors of electricity, though not all metals are equal. In terms of pure conductivity, silver is the most conductive, but silver also oxidises easily and is thus impractical for use in wiring and most circuits. The next best is gold, which resists corrosion very well but is expensive. The third best is a good compromise, copper, being relatively cheap and somewhat resistant to corrosion.
you need to define good. Below is a table of resistivity of various metals. Conductivity is 1/resistivity, so you can see, silver, copper, gold, aluminum are all very good. Mercury is one of the worse, as it is about 50 times lower than copper. But 50 times worse is still good compared to insulators, which are millions of times worse. resistivity Ag 15.9e-9 Ω-m resistivity Cu 17.2e-9 Ω-m or 17.2e-6 ohm-mm resistivity Au 22.14e-9 Ω-m resistivity Al 28.2e-9 Ω-m resistivity brass 35e-9 Ω-m resistivity W 56e-9 Ω-m resistivity Zn 68e-9 Ω-m resistivity Ni 69e-9 Ω-m resistivity Fe 100e-9 Ω-m resistivity Steel (cast) 160e-9 Ω-m resistivity Pt 105e-9 Ω-m resistivity Pb 208e-9 Ω-m resistivity Hg 961e-9 Ω·m resistivity Stainless steel (304) 750e-9 Ω-m resistivity Nichrome 150e-8 Ω-m resistivity constantan 500e-9 Ω-m .
Compared to non metals all metals are good conductors with some being better than others.There is a group of non- metals(in the chemical sense) called intrinsic semi conductors which are metalloids such as germanium which can become conducting by doping with other elements or simply by heating or exposure to light; they are poor conductors relative to metals but can run a lot the worlds computers and control circuits.
Definitely Not Here are some examples One common example of a poor electrical conductor is lead. There are alloys that are created that may include lead, and are used in fuses. When the total current through the fuse’s resistance makes too much heat, then the fuse link melts, and protects the rest of the circuit by opening it, and turning of the power to that circuit. Most modern systems use circuit breakers that can be reset to protect circuits, but low melting point alloys where once the most common protection devices. There are many, but some include Aluminum, Bismuth, Gallium, Indium, Lead, Thallium, Tin, Ununhexium, Ununpentium, Ununquadium, and Ununtrium. Tungsten is not a good conductor. It has a very high resistance, meaning that electricity has a hard time passing through it. However, this makes it ideal for making light bulbs and such, because it is so hard for electricity to move through it that it glows when current runs through it.
Not all metals are good conductors of electricity, how good a metal is at conducting depends on the fixed charger ion, (e.g. Mg2+) and the delocalised sea of electrons, therefore metals with less charge and delocalised electrons will be worse at conducting, e.g. copper is good (Cu2+) and used in a lot of wires, but lithium is less good.
